Mirage of the royals

The story of a Persian warrior princess who overcomes her father's tyranny and threatens to destroy the kingdom with her will, while finding her true love and purpose in the most unexpected place.
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Chapters:

"Get him out of my sight before I kill him." Mirage murmured to
Abid who stood beside her. Prince Kiyan of Shawra; a young naval
officer with dark brown hair and crinkling brown eyes stood in
front of her, his breath heavy and his temper through the roof.
He was held back by three members of the royal guard. As usual,
Kiyan had used this opportunity to berate her as much as he
could. It was not surprising that many of the princes had indeed
been less grateful for an opportunity to meet the princess and
had just entered the hall, screamed the house down, and had to be
taken out forcibly.

King Sarosh watched from the gallery above the village hall which
Mirage had chosen as the meeting place with the princes.
Everything had gone smoothly, at least to her it had. After
choking on a piece of flat bread at breakfast this morning, King
Sarosh had to be held back by his children as his hands reached
out to kill her. Mirage just sat calmly, watching it all with
amusement and munched on some feta. After being taken out of the
room by Queen Nadira, King Sarosh calmed down and ordered Mirage
to explain herself. Mirage went into as little detail as she
could, and just told him she couldn't face such a dreary decision
and wanted to take some time to blow off some steam before seeing
those cowards line up in front of her. In her opinion, losers do
not deserve a chance for redemption; not one of this kind. King
Sarosh's lips set in a thin line but after a few moments in which
Queen Nadira rolled her eyes and wondered how her husband could
fall for such a pathetic excuse, King Sarosh stood up, and
growled, "And the message on the mirror?"

Mirage smiled sweetly, "You know how much I love to tease you,
father."

"I told you before not to create trouble for me." His gaze was
deadly.

"And did you think I'd actually listen to you?" She smirked.

King Sarosh stared at her and eventually his gaze softened. He
sighed.

And now, five hours later, five hours in which she was scrubbed,
polished, cleaned and then made to look like a painted doll, she
sat slumped in her high chair dressed in deep purple and silver
robes, a diamond crown she had privately bought from a shady
dealer in China sat proudly amongst the puffed-up hairdo on her
head. As each prince came and went, introducing themselves and
showering her with praise for her intelligence and how the
invasion had actually saved them for redemption. Never before had
she seen people lie so much. They all hated her, as many said so
after she'd make a scathing comment about their country.

As Prince Kiyan was escorted out, Mirage sighed, "I'd have more
fun looking at horses. Who knew choosing a husband would be so
boring?!"

Abid frowned a little and cleared his throat. "Men and horses are
different."

"You're right. Horses are more fun, and they are different from
one another. All these men are starting to look the same to me…"
She mumbled.

"Sepehr. What do you think?" She asked, turning to him.

Sepehr and the rest of the royal guard stood to one side,
observing Mirage as she criticized the princes when they came and
went, eventually snickering at the ridicule.

Sepehr looked ahead, "I'm not paid to think. I have no say in
this." He ignored the other men beside him who chuckled.

Mirage snorted in the most unladylike way, "That's the first time
you're obeying the laws in your job description. You always have
an opinion on something."

Sepehr stood silent. Shaking her head and rolling her eyes at
him, she turned to Navid. "What do you think? Who would you bet
on in a fight? Sepehr or a horse?"

Navid smirked. All the members of the royal guard were Mirage's
friends and were the only ones apart from Tatiana and Sepehr who
spoke frankly with her, not caring about their status or hers.

"Sepehr is better built." He shrugged and ran a hand through his
luscious brown head of hair. Mirage always teased him that he had
the hair that women dreamt of having.

"That's because he eats the poor horses for breakfast. Now we
know why they keep disappearing from the stables." She mocked
Sepehr.

"No, they keep disappearing because you take them out when you go
hunting and forget where you left them." Sepehr snapped at her.

"They'll live." She flicked her hand. King Sarosh shook his head
at the conversation. They'd been her friends since she started
training. He couldn't harm them or teach them some manners even
if he wanted to. The royal guard enjoyed their position in the
forces because Mirage loved and defended them more than her
actual siblings.

"Prince Arya of Qushaab" A voice sounded and as the door opened
and Prince Arya stepped in, she sat up, "See, look at him. He
looks so much like…" she frowned, trying to remember, "Azad from
Norasaab. They both look the same." She said. Abid eyed her with
alarm, indicating to the kings and Queens sitting upstairs as
they watched their children parade.

Ignoring him, she looked at Arya who opened his mouth to speak.
Mirage called out, "No! Go home. Next."

Prince Arya grew red. "But…" He started.

"Next."

"But princess…"

"I said NEXT." Mirage screamed.

She snickered as Arya stomped out, not even closing the door
behind him.

"Poor child. Make sure he's not crying. He'll kill himself now
because I didn't choose him." She said to Sam, a member of the
royal guard.

Abid leaned down a little. "Do not mock them. This is a moment of
great humiliation to them after their defeat. The least you can
do is let them put in a word." He said through gritted teeth.

She looked up at him in the eye. "They should have been stronger
then. And I'm not mocking them, I'm telling the truth."

"Princess Mirage." Stated a deep voice and she looked down.

Sina smiled as Mirage's eyes widened. God, he's
delicious. Aara's words echoed through her head as she
smiled back.

Before he could say anything, Mirage stood up. She wanted to talk
to him without an audience. Extending her hand, she glided down
and Sina reached for it. He made to kiss it, but she shook his
hand energetically instead.

"I'm pleased to meet you, Prince Sina." She said, looking at him
with a leer.

Sina stepped back and said, "And to you, princess. I must say,
Rehbartaj is beautiful but you are more beautiful than what
people say. Your portrait…" "Does not do you any justice at all."
She finished for him. "Blah, blah, blah. I've heard it all
before." She said and walked past him to the door. The guards
opened it and she turned to Sina.

"Walk with me." She said simply.

Sina stared at her and after a few moments, bowed in acceptance
of her command. He kept a safe distance as Mirage swept her
robes, adjusted her crown and waltzed off through the corridors.
She could hear her father's chair scraping as he stood up,
wanting to shout after her to stop acting like an idiot and come
back at once but she hurried off. Her royal guards were behind
Sina, marching purposefully on ahead. Their boots made echoing
stomps, and as Mirage rounded the corner and disappeared, Sina
looked back at Sepehr.

"What's going on?" He asked.

Sepehr shrugged.

They all came to a stop at the top of the stairs which led to the
corridor housing the entrance to the dining hall and the back
gardens. The dining hall doors were open and Mirage's slippers
slapping the ground could be heard from afar. Sina hurried on and
made it all the way to the stairs leading to the gardens where
Mirage had stationed herself, grinning.

"Do you always have to make me run after you?" Sina asked at
last.

Mirage's smile faltered and she looked out at the peacocks
roaming amongst the roses.

Sina looked at her passively and leaned against his back against
a pillar, folding his arms. His stance reminded Mirage of Salar
and last night and she involuntarily shivered. Sepehr and the
rest stayed back, not wanting to eavesdrop.

After a while, Sina spoke. "Well?"

Mirage frowned a bit.

"What do you have to say?" Sina probed.

Still not speaking, Sina sighed at Mirage. "You know what you did
was wrong." He said quietly.

Mirage said archly, "Was it?"

"My country may not be as fertile as yours, or as beautiful. But
the people loved it just the same. There was no reason to destroy
us from the roots." He said.

"You were already weak." Mirage said, bunching her hands into
fists.

"Weak, yes. But we still lived. You destroyed our economy, or
livelihood. Do you have any idea how bad it was the night of the
attack?! How many lives were lost?" He said, straightening up,
his nostrils flaring.

"Rubbish." Mirage said, finally looking at him. "No one died in
Kasra, it was a bloodless coup."

"Is that what your father told you?" He asked, looking at her
with pity.

How dare you pity me?! My father would never hide a single
thing from me, Mirage thought angrily.

"Perhaps it was your family who lied to you." She snapped.

"Right and people just happened to drop dead all of a sudden with
bullets in their heads and holes in their bodies?!" Sina asked,
taking a step towards her.

Mirage looked at him. How could she think that Sina would still
be her friend? Her father had ruined everything, all the
relations with the neighboring countries, their economies,
people's lives. The plan was subtle from the start. It had
started two years ago when Rehbartaj had slowly tweaked the
Eastern market to slow down production in the struggling
countries since most trade centered on Rehbartaj. People out of
jobs with no money resulted in an acute rise in crime, theft and
even murder. Rehbartaj had bought most of the commercial real
estate in those countries through ghost companies which were
really Rehbartaj's representatives in disguise and made sure to
take over the major businesses. When they had taken over the
financial, productive and trade center of those countries, they
had shut it all down, crashing the financial district and making
the countries more vulnerable than ever and no one even knew that
Rehbartaj was behind it all. And at that point, they had
attacked. And that was only half of the idea. And it had all been
Mirage's plan.

Sina closed his eyes and turned his head against the sudden
breeze. "We are being kept as prisoners there. This cold air
which you take for granted? We can't get it in those cells. Your
armies have locked us in our own homes. Now we don't work for
ourselves. We work for you." He opened his eyes and they were
glassy.

Mirage bit her lip. She knew it all. None of it was exactly new
to her. Even though she was against keeping people as their
prisoners, her father had kept that law. He thought she didn't
know about the captives.

Mirage took a deep breath and looked back at Sepehr meaningfully
who took the message and signaling to the others, trooped out of
the dining hall, knowing that Mirage was fully capable of
handling herself if things took a wrong turn for at least a few
moments before they'd kill the attacker.

Sina looked back as he heard the door shut and seemed momentarily
irritated.

"I know about it all." Mirage said in a clear voice, "Which is
why I wanted to talk to you separately. I want you to do
something for me."

"And why would I do anything for you? After all you've done?" He
sneered.

"Because it's quite obvious that you'd rather much kill me than
marry me, and I am in no way interested in marrying you." She
said.

"But then again, who is?!" He added childishly.

Mirage's mouth tightened but she chose to ignore his comment.
"I've already sent the command. By this time in two days, your
people will be free."

Sina's eyes bugged. "W…what?" He stuttered, not being able to
believe it.

"I am completely against it. Taking the freedom of so many is not
what I had in mind. You were incapable of ruling a kingdom and we
knew you wouldn't be able to do much with the state of your
advisors. They're all pig-headed and greedy." Mirage said, not
even attempting to sweeten the details. "You told me in a letter
last year that you were feeling very off and that you had been
sick for a long time. One of your advisors, Kaspe?" She waited as
he nodded in recognition, "He was poisoning you. No heir to the
throne meant destruction. I send the letter to Sardar, your
Vazir."

"How do you know all this?" Sina asked.

"I have my sources." She shrugged.

"Why are you freeing us?"

"You'll be of better use to me in good health and good wishes."
She said simply.

Sina stepped out into the garden and Mirage watched him think it
all over. It seemed that every day she had to tell someone
something about the invasion which she assumed they already knew.
She was starting to resent the day she had come up with the plan.

Fingering the soft petal of a rose, Sina murmured. "What does the
King have to say about this?"

Side-stepping a wandering peacock, Mirage made her way to him and
gazed at the rose in his hand. "It's not his decision to make."

"So it means you haven't told him?"

"It means that I've taken care of it. He knows what I did was
right." She lied. King Sarosh didn't know anything about the
prisoner's release at all.

"You're being very gracious." He said and broke off a petal.

"I am gracious." She said modestly.

Sina glanced at her. "So what happens now?"

Mirage smiled. "I can't tell you my decision now, but now that
you know the truth," She took a step towards him, and leaning
past him, snapped the rose off its stem. "I think you'll be able
to tolerate me a little if I choose you."

"And will you choose me?" He asked, his eyes flickering to the
blood red rose in her pale hands.

Mirage handed the rose to Sina, letting her hand stay a bit
longer in his grasp a bit longer than necessary when he accepted
it. "You'll just have to find out like the rest." And with that,
she turned and floated off back into the castle.

Looking down at the rose in his hand, Sina blinked. Damn
those eyes and that mouth. Why is it that every time she comes in
front of you, it feels like she's saying sense.

~0~

Mirage sat back down in her throne and waited for Salar who she
had made sure would appear last.

Azin and Rostam of the royal guards gestured for her to sit up
and straighten her gown which had ridden up to reveal her legs.
Like brothers. Only worse, Mirage thought as she
stretched her gown down and arched her back to relieve her pain.

"Prince Salar Mir Sahilibur" The booming voice echoed through the
hall and the doors opened.

Mirage hid a smile as Salar marched up to his spot in front of
her. Bowing, he introduced himself formally, as if he hadn't
actually lusted after the princess last night and touched her
flesh.

Mirage tilted her head. Salar waited for Mirage to ask him
something but she just stared at him, her eyebrows raised in
amusement. No prince was allowed to say anything except the
answers to Mirage's questions after their introduction and a
little line of praise.

Mirage smiled at him in fascination as if he had just burst out
into song and was had started juggling firecrackers. She heard
her father clear his throat irritably, signaling her to go ahead
and ask him anything but she didn't. After minutes passed without
any of them uttering a single word, Salar; who had been smiling
when he had entered, could take it anymore and blurted, "Are you
not going to ask me anything, Princess?"

Mirage's smile disappeared and was replaced by a grim line as if
he had just insulted her. Leaning towards Abid, who was taking
notes of each meeting, she whispered loudly, "No patience. Not a
good thing in a husband."

Salar's jaw set. What was she playing at?!

Turning to him, she sneered, "To answer your question, I was just
thinking whether you were worth my time. I personally don't care
much for big hulks of muscles. They have more brawns than
brains."

Salar's eyes popped. He couldn't believe that she was saying
this, and in front of everyone, even her guards. His eyes
flickered to them and Mirage caught the action.

"They are my protection. They're not allowed to think. You, on
the other hand, should." Sitting back, she regarded him with
leisure. "Tell me, Prince. What will you bring to this marriage?
And this kingdom? What should I consider you?"

Looking up at the balcony, Mirage registered her father's shocked
expression and suddenly stopped as she saw Queen Nadira standing
behind the King's chair, looking down at her with disappointment
etched on her face. She addressed her father, but kept her eyes
on her mother, "Tell me father. What is your plan? Why should I
choose from this…?" She looked back at Salar with disgust. "…
This imbecile who should very well be tending to our gardens and
shoveling around hay for the horses, rather than dreaming of
royalty and power?!" King Sarosh's mouth fell open as his
daughter's harsh words and Queen Nadira looked up nervously
towards the balcony seating the kings and queens. Exhilarated at
watching the pompous King Darius's son being taken apart like
that, many tried to suppress their grins since their sons hadn't
been humiliated as much. King Darius however was red with rage
and bristling with indignation.

Tearing her gaze off her mother's face, she turned to Salar who
had gone pale; not with fear, obviously, but with rage. All
thoughts of last night forgotten, his hand itched towards his
waist but he couldn't feel his sword there. Of course, they
took away all the weapons when we got here. He thought,
exasperated. Sepehr cleared his throat discreetly and Salar
glared at him. Sepehr held his gaze and very slowly, shook his
head, as if to say, don't fall for it. Don't lose your
cool.

Mirage snapped, "Look at me." She looked fiercely at Salar, "You
think you'd be lucky enough to get on that special force?!" She
pointed to Sepehr and the others. "They'd kill you in an
instant."

Mirage's mind was going into overdrive. She knew she was being
rude beyond belief, but this had to be done. Salar stared at her,
gritting his teeth as images of violence flashed before his eyes.

Mirage asked suddenly, "Who trains your armies?"

Salar looked surprised. "I do." He said, "I am the commander."

Mirage snorted in derision. "No wonder you lost."

Suddenly, she stood up and strode to him, coming to halt a few
feet from him. She looked up in his eyes and he recognized the
same venom he had seen in her eyes last night, the same tone of
voice and then something clicked. She had tested him last night.
And she had said that she was not going to make it easy for him,
he'd have to seduce her. Win her over to his side.

His lips parted at the revelation. Mirage however carried on with
the ridicule. "Aren't you going to answer me, or are you just
going to stand here all day looking like an idiot?" She narrowed
her eyes.

Salar looked down into her face. He said quietly. "I'd be the
best thing that'd ever happen to you."

Mirage raised her eyebrows and crossed her arms. "Oh and how's
that?"

Salar whispered, "Because I'm starting to understand you."

Mirage didn't move but slowly, her lips spread into a cruel
smile, "You are so mistaken. You don't know me at all."

"Is that why I know that you're testing my tolerance? Because I
know that's the one thing you value above all." He said, starting
to enjoy Mirage's reaction.

Not answering him, Mirage gave him a head-to-toe look and started
circling him, her eyes straying to every bit of him. He stayed
still as she walked behind him and murmured, "Humor me then."

Salar took a deep breath. "Your father is a shining example of
tolerance. Your entire family, your ancestors; they all gave
their lives so that you could live happily. You all have patience
and intelligence. I just feel that with me, you'd have everything
you wanted." Mirage circled him once more, reluctantly tearing
her eyes from his taut backside, "And why is that?" She asked
distractedly.

"You have tolerance and I have power; power to influence the
people. And above that, power to understand your decisions, even
if others don't." He said, as Mirage studied him with her icy
eyes. To make him more uncomfortable, she came to stand in front
of him, looking at him in the eyes, and slowly retreated, her
gaze wandering from his face, down his chest before settling at
his pelvis. It took all her strength to control her giggles as
Salar figured out where she was staring and grew a bit red. She
was starting to enjoy watching him blush. She was quite
fascinated by the fact that she had the power to make such a
hulking man blush. Not many women had this power.

She stopped a few feet from her throne and her smile switched
from cruel to amuse with the flex of a muscle. "What do you
know…?" She said, and looked up at the kings and queens. She
looked back down at Salar and her eyes widened a bit as she said,
"A monkey with a brain."

As they chuckled, King Darius fought with himself, nearing the
urge to hurl himself over the balcony and attacking the little
dog-faced whore. Not one inch like her mother, he
thought furiously.

Mirage knew very well what King Darius thought of her, and
glancing at his expression, decided that this was enough
entertainment for her today. Sitting back down, she called out.
"I am tired now. Leave." Waving a hand at him, she rested her
head as if she was exhausted. Abid went down to Salar who still
staring at her, "Thank you, your highness. The guards will escort
you back to your quarters." Salar looked from Mirage to Abid,
feeling a bit dazed.

As Abid gently turned Salar away, Salar caught a last glance of
Mirage, and amid the sounds of chairs being scraped, and her
suddenly becoming surrounded by her ladies-in-waiting who were
waiting to take her away to her room to rest, he saw it. From
between the curves of the ladies and a sudden tinkling chorus of
laughter, he saw Mirage who looked straight at him and smiling
mischievously, winked and blew a kiss at him.

~0~

"Well, that was fun." King Sarosh murmured to his wife as he
stood up, watching all her ladies-in-waiting surround Mirage and
a sudden burst of laughter sounded at some joke Mirage had made.

"She'll get killed if she keeps this on." Queen Nadira hissed
angrily.

"Nonsense." He dismissed the notion, "And besides, we have other
things to think about. I happen to know where our darling
daughter was in the last three days and whose idea it was."

"But Sarosh, Darius was so angry. She was so cruel to his boy.
She didn't talk that way to any of the others and…" She stopped
suddenly, her eyes wide.

King Sarosh turned to look at his wife who was staring at Mirage,
unable to believe her eyes. Her head jerked as she looked
somewhere and back at Mirage. King Sarosh reached out and shook
her arm. "What is it?"

This is ridiculous. But I saw what I saw. I can't believe
that girl; she's in so much trouble. Something is going on
between her and that boy. Queen Nadira shook her head,
"Nothing."

~0~

"Where's Tatiana?" Mirage asked later, seated on a tasseled seat
in front of her dressing table. Her ladies gently took off her
crown which seemed to be sewn onto her head. This one was lighter
than the one she had worn at the union feast but it still hurt
like hell.

"She was called away, madam, on something regarding your dresses,
I think." Said one of the ladies whose names Mirage was always
confused in. Not bothering to concern herself with Tatiana's
whereabouts; no doubt this had to be one of Sepehr's tricks to
get near his bride for a much needed private moment, Mirage
tensed as the pins holding up her hair started getting pulled out
of her head. Her hair stuck on awkward ends as the pins were
pulled apart and after her long hair were finally rid of all
those offensive needles, she didn't bother to take off the dress
and shooing away her ladies, she flopped down onto her bed for a
well-deserved rest. After all, insulting people all day took a
lot of hard work.

It was quite a long time before she woke up. It was probably 4 in
the afternoon. She was temperamental enough, but if she was
disturbed from her slumber, Mirage would turn into a monster.
Rolling over her back, she rubbed her eyes, not wanting to open
her eyes and grabbing her blanket, pulled it over her head.

"You have a beautiful room, although it's not according to your
taste at all." A deep voice sounded from far away.

Mirage frowned a little, trying to place the voice in her dream.
She didn't hear the voice again and slipped back into a
sleep-induced coma after a little while. Dreaming about nothing
in particular, she was suddenly yanked up by her wrist and she
awoke, not quite sure what was happening. She felt the person's
hand on her waist as she was pushed out of bed and was being
forced to stand. She didn't even open her eyes before she
reacted. Her free hand shot straight up and her palm hit the
person on the nose hard. Twisting around, she wound her legs
between the attackers and jerked her knees around theirs.
Instantly, she felt them give away and snaking around the
person's back, she grabbed the person's neck, digging her long
nails into the person's jugular vein, the other hand grabbing the
person's hand which had been holding her wrist and holding it
behind them. She was wide awake and even though the world in
front of her was hazy, her instincts weren't. That was when she
realized that the person on his knees in front of her was none
other than Salar.

"What nerve." She snarled, shaking his head violently. "How did
you get in here?"

His neck arched, Salar relaxed his hands, not believing that this
little nymph had just disarmed him. "I found a secret
passageway." He gasped as Mirage's nails dug in further.

"That's a lie and you know it." She hissed. "I've lived in this
castle all my life and I couldn't find a secret passageway. This
castle isn't built like that."

"I can show it to you if you want." He said smiling, despite the
lack of oxygen. For such a little person, she had a lot of
strength. He couldn't move his arm and it felt as though his
bones were locked from the elbow up.

"And why should I trust you?" She said and he suddenly felt her
relax against him. She leaned down and whispered in his ear,
"Should I kill you now for trespassing into the princess's room
or should I just call upon my father so that he can have his
guards take care of you? You know they're all masters in the art
of torture." Her breath tickled his ear and he smiled for the
perfect opportunity. With all his might, he jerked his leg and
rolled over her. Taken by surprise, Mirage let go of his throat
and slithered away quickly so as not to be crushed by Salar's
mass. Quick as a fox, he took her by the ankle and she fell and
seizing the moment, he stood up, dragged her towards him and
grabbing her by the waist, raised her up. She thrashed as she
felt the ground disappear from under her. Holding her away from
himself by her waist, he looked up at her grinning widely. She
put her hands over his and tried to squirm but he didn't let go,
holding her like a weightless doll.

Admitting defeat, she breathed heavily, and placed her hands on
her hips. "Let me down." She said through gritted teeth.

"You promise to behave?" he teased and tightened his grip.

She didn't react. "Do you want me to kick you in the face or down
there?" she said, trying to keep a straight face through the
pain.

"I saw you looking down there. I didn't have you down as a
leering pervert." He smirked and avoided the kick that flew in
his face.

"I was looking at you like I look at everyone. I wasn't leering
and I am not a pervert." She said, aiming for another kick.

Abruptly, he threw her onto the bed and she yelped at the sudden
sensation of flying. She landed on her unmade bed and bounced,
looking daggers at him.

Walking away from her, her gaze followed him as he went to the
far side of her room near the windows and suddenly flipped over
the ledge. Mirage's mouth fell open but no scream came out.
Horrified, she struggled off the bed and ran to the window,
looking down for the splat of blood, but there was none. How
could this be?! Was that all an illusion? As she looked
around frantically, out of the blue a hand moved to her wrist and
she was pulled out of the window. She would have yelled had it
not been for Salar's hand covering her mouth. Waiting for the
imminent death, it was a while before she realized that she was
still standing on the ground. Opening her eyes, she looked up at
Salar who was standing too close, and was indeed looking down her
bodice.

Shoving him away, she grumbled, "Who's a leering pervert now?"
Shaking, she went past him and stood on the end of a ledge just
beneath her window. It was there, she wasn't dreaming. High up,
the wind whistled past her and she shivered. She could still see
the village stretching in front of the castle and even the glass
ceiling of her room in Saulta. The river glittered brightly. How
could she have not discovered this place!

Wordlessly, she looked at Salar who grinned. "It's called optical
illusion. Since the tower is so high up, no one thinks of looking
at it. I discovered this place yesterday evening. I'm quite quick
in such mysteries." And taking her hand, he led her into the dark
empty room with a low ceiling. She could make out cobwebs the
size of shields which hung from the ceiling and the floor like
stalactites and stalagmites. There were no windows, just the
entrance without a door leading off the tower. It was smaller
than the room upstairs, and she could make out the side where the
stairs were and gazed around, dumbfounded.

Not aware that she was holding onto Salar's hand rather tightly,
she pulled him to a corner where her dressing table would be.
There, in the corner, sat a small pot made out of pure gold.
"Well, that explains it." She exclaimed, eyeing its dull sheen.

Salar shook her hand, "What? What does it explain?"

"A princess was killed in my room a long time ago by her lover."
She explained excitedly, "We could never figure out how he got in
since her room was guarded at all times. The poor guards at that
time were almost executed because of suspicion."

"Almost?" Salar asked frowning.

"Grandfather stepped in. He was only in his teens at that time,
but he knew the princess obviously. She was his sister. He told
them all about the princess's star-crossed lover and when they
found him, he told them about a room beneath the tower. They
searched for it for a long time. Even the floor was ripped out
but they found nothing. In the end, the man was cast as a
delusional psychopath and put to death, but now I know it's true.
This is so exciting." Reaching down, she made to pick up the pot
but Salar tugged her away.

"Are you mad? That's a disgusting thing. Don't touch it." He
said, wrinkling his nose. It took a person like Mirage to feel at
home in a room where a murder had taken place.

"But…" She looked eagerly at the pot, "It could have anything in
it. Maybe a love letter or the dagger with which she was killed,
oh come on, please let me see it." Her tone was almost begging.
He looked down at the squirming Mirage whose focus right now was
only on the pot and he caught a glimpse of the girl who she was
inside, and not the dictator she was growing up to be.

"No." He said firmly and dragging her away back into the light,
he held her against a clean patch of wall and smiled as he saw
her pout. She glared at him sourly and looked away. Reaching up,
he took her chin in his hand the same way she had last night, and
turned her face towards him. She met his eyes and he breathed as
the blue shade gave way to a sudden burst of Celeste, matching
the sky behind her.

Her eyes drifted over his face and down to his neck when they
suddenly widened, "Oh Allah, I think I was too wild." And
reaching up, she touched the side of his neck where her nails had
been. She gently caressed his skin and Salar took a step towards
her but she stopped him, holding up her hand which was smudged
with blood. His, apparently.

He immediately let go of Mirage's hand and reached up. Surely
enough, there were the tell-tale signs of blood and as he
fingered the wound gently, he felt three cuts, not deep but still
hurting him quite a bit.

"You know, no one's ever drawn my blood before, and you did it
with just your nails." He said, rubbing the skin gently.

Mirage smirked, her eyes wavering to his neck and back to his
face. "Don't take what you hear about me lightly." She stuck her
chin out, "And you kill men with your bare hands, don't tell me
you're scared at the sight of your own blood!"

He looked down at the smudges of blood on his hand and sighed, "I
won't." He wiped his hand against his shirt. "So should I assume
what you did to me was a thing of nature?"

"What did I do to you?" She asked, amused.

Moving closer to her, she looked into his face, her expression
determined. "Well, you promised me that we are… together now." He
said, not touching her. "But you did seduce me. So am I to assume
that this is just a reoccurring trick that you do to all the
princes? To make them fight for you?" Hurt flashed across her
face and he didn't see the resounding slap coming.

She pushed him away, furious at his statement, his right ear
ringing. "How dare YOU!" Her voice raised an octave as she shook
with anger. "How dare you accuse me of something like that?! I
was honest with you last night. I felt you understood. You
certainly weren't feeling that way when you were running your
hands all over me."

He knew he had stepped over the line. Raising his hands in
defeat, he tried to calm her down. Soldiers with guns and swords
were nothing to a woman's anger. This was the one thing he
couldn't understand neither control. But he had to state his
point. "Look, you can't expect me to not think like that. I saw
you going away with Sina and when he came back later, he didn't
tell me anything about his conversation with you. He just said
that you were wonderful, so I just assumed…" He quickly moved to
the side as Mirage's fist went sailing past his right side, and
grabbing it, backed her up against the wall. Instantly, he was
rewarded with a kick she had promised to him when he'd held her
up in the air. Doubling over, he watched her stalk past him. She
started ripping the cobwebs off, looking for a way to get out of
the secret room since she wasn't tall enough to climb back up the
window. Her previous mood utterly destroyed by Salar's
accusations.

Righting himself up, Salar breathed deeply as Mirage's hands
roamed across the dusty walls. She came near the gold pot and
shoved it aside with her foot. She jumped back as a wall opened,
leading a way down. Apparently, the pot was a lever judging by
the fact that it had only moved an inch when she had kicked it
away. She thundered down the steps, not bothering to look back,
wanting to get away from Salar as soon as possible. She couldn't
believe that he would think of her as a harlot of sorts. And it
hadn't even been a full day since her decision. She stumbled down
the rotting stairs as it narrowed around her and finally came to
a stop at the bottom. It was quite dark and she couldn't even see
her hands in front of her. Her fingertips trailed along the
narrowing walls on both sides and the ceiling a few inches above
her and passing over the edges, they halted at the wall in front
of her. She obviously didn't have a light and since she couldn't
see, she couldn't search for a brick or a lever even if she
wanted to. The wall seemed complete with no brick out of place.
She was stuck. I don't want to go back. I'll just stay here
for a while. He'll probably go back through my room. This place
is too small. She thought.

Her breath grew cold as she felt a cobweb brush her hand. Maybe
she had come down the wrong passageway. Maybe this was a dead
end. Blindingly feeling the stones in front of her; she put an
ear against it and tried to listen to any sound. There was none
and she was starting to get uncomfortable in the small confines
of the passageway. Her erratic heart and the sound of blood
whooshing through her head were not helping. She didn't want to
go back up right away and face him. And he probably won't have
the nerve to come down after her after accusing her of seducing
him along with the other princes.

Trying to ignore her panic; she humphed as her thoughts went back
to a few moments ago. "Stupid idiot! The nerve of him! I didn't
even know I was seducing him until Tati told me that I was and he
goes around thinking that I'm doing the same to all of them?! I'd
kill him if I wasn't so blind right now." She mumbled away as she
pushed against the wall in exasperation.

"So Tatiana knows about us!" Salar's voice cut through the
darkness along with Mirage's scream. They fumbled in the darkness
as Mirage attempted to push him away and he reached out to grab
her. Losing her footing, she fell on him and he caught her.

"LET GO OF ME!" She screamed, probably in his face and kicked him
willy-nilly. She must have hit him on the legs because she felt
them going down, judging by the thud of his muscle against the
edge of the stairs. She was still on top of him and holding her
by both arms; Salar waited until she stopped kicking and
struggling like a whiny child.

Finally, he felt her relax in his grasp. "I am sorry." He said.

"That sentence is becoming the only thing you say to me now. How
about trying to improve yourself and not be sorry once in a
while!" She spat.

Their breathing was heavy and Mirage felt her head spinning at
the lack of oxygen. "Look, I'll apologize when we go back up, you
came the wrong way. This place is a dead end."

"I know that now. Thank you for telling me when I was going down
these stairs." Mirage snapped and squealed as his hand brushed
past her back and through her hair before settling over her mouth
which was unsettlingly close to his. No wonder he could feel her
breath on his face.

"Would you for once in your life let someone finish what they're
saying?!" He shouted as she started fighting against his hands.

"Stop it. Stop fighting." He shouted. He knew very well that no
one could hear them since beyond that wall was more stone.
Suddenly, hearing him shout like that, Mirage stopped. He held
her like that for a few moments before letting go of her mouth.
"Will you listen to me now?" He asked.

She mumbled something incoherent and as if all the fight had gone
out of her, rested her forehead against his shoulder; her hands
lose on his chest.

"Look", he said gently, "I am sorry but you have to let me have
some doubts here. It's not like I've known you my whole life…
like Sina."

Mirage mumbled, "Sina and I met seven years ago and we only
talked for a few hours in the company of dozens of other people.
He's not my friend." She omitted the part about the fight.

"Alright. I believe you. And I apologize for accusing you of
doing something that you didn't do. I'm sorry." She's right.
I say this to her a lot. Why am I apologizing? She's the one who
kicked me in the groin and ran for it. She should be apologizing
to me. And yet, he didn't voice his opinion and instead,
opted for another topic.

"Why were you like that today?" He asked, reaching up to stroke
her hair, simply because he couldn't help it.

She found her voice. "You mean why was I acting like you're an
excuse of a man, not worth my time and a complete insensible fool
of a pig?" She smirked, "I told you I wasn't going to make it
easy on you. You'll have to seduce me."

He pulled her up and even in the darkness, as his eyes adjusted,
he glimpsed at her shape on top of him, "Well, I suppose that's
what I'm doing right now then." Mirage's smirk disappeared. Now
that she wasn't alone, she wasn't scared and she could make him
out underneath her. His face was right in front of hers, and she
could feel his heart beating against her strategically placed
hand. In that moment, she didn't want him to let her go. But she
had other things to think of. He may not have a future to worry
about since it was becoming quite clear to her that he would be
the one she'd marry, but she did. She was going to be a queen,
and a queen simply did not act in such a cheap way.

Salar felt her stiffen against his hold as she raised her head.
"Let go of me." She ordered.

He ignored her. "Have you decided?" He already knew what her
answer was as she played with the thin rope of his shirt, rolling
it between her fingers unconsciously. She didn't need to say that
she liked him back too. Her breath and the way her other hand
seemed to be holding onto his side and stroking him with her
thumbs was reason enough for him.

"What if I choose someone else?" She asked; anxiety in her voice
apparent.

"And why would you do that?" He said, reaching up to mash his
hand in her hair. His other hand was dangerously below her waist
and he rubbed the little dip at the bottom of her spine with this
fingers.

"To spite you." She whispered, aware of his hands and the warm
feeling spreading through her limbs.

"You wouldn't… I know that much about you." He murmured back,
running his lips against her ears down to the curve of her neck.
"I know you like me."

Her hands slid onto his chest as he caressed her. "I also know
that you want me." She jerked away from him. Such acceptance of
her plain feelings for him was too embarrassing for her.

"I do not." She declared and before he could do anything, reached
up and grabbing the edge of a stair, slithered away from him and
brushing off her clothes, marched back up. Salar stayed as he was
and sighed. How was he going to deal with this mercurial woman!

He heard her call out to him, her voice receding as she went up,
"Do you want to die down there or are we going to get out of
here!?"

Grumbling, he got up and followed Mirage. Quite far from his
thoughts of killing her, she had really cast a spell on him and
he couldn't get out of it. Back in the sunlight, he stayed silent
as Mirage stood fuming, waiting for him to show her the way out.
He pushed against the stone by the ledge with his foot and a door
beside the one they had come out of opened. Pursing her lips, she
inquired as to where it would lead. Pleased that it would lead
out to the bottom of the tower on the outside wall, she made to
go first but still suspicious that he'd try to trap her once
more, she told him to go first, threatening to cut off his
jugular vein with her nails if he tried to pull such a trick
again, ignoring his statements that it had been her impatience
that had led to her entrapment.

~0~

"You look beautiful, darling." Queen Nadira said, tears
glistening in her eyes. Mirage stood on a pedestal in front of a
full length mirror donning a blood red and golden gown. Her
reflection looked back at her, wide -eyed and pale. Tonight was
bonfire night along with a wonderful display of fireworks.
Tomorrow, she'd declare to the whole Kingdom that she had chosen
Salar to be her husband. It had been a week since she had been so
close to him as she had been in the secret passageway. Now, she
ignored the longing she felt as she looked gloomily back to the
window and resisted the urge to roll her eyes and the queen held
up Mirage's hand to admire the way the sleeve draped off her
curve.

"Beautiful…" She murmured.

After she had returned from her escapade with Salar, she had
gotten a letter informing her that Tatiana had had to leave
urgently over a private matter. Since she knew everything about
Tatiana, she became irritated that Tatiana had kept a problem
secret from her and her bad mood started and stayed throughout
since she didn't get any time to talk to Salar either. Her bad
mood was always the bane of her family, accordingly, she said,
"Aren't you getting ready, mother? Or is that what you're going
to wear?" She watched with satisfaction as Queen Nadira's face
fell.

"This is a new dress…" Her voice faltered and she stared at her
reflection beside Mirage who was now smiling smugly, not caring
that she had hurt her mother's feelings.

"Don't listen to her mother. She doesn't know a thing about
beauty. It's a miracle she was blessed with such a face even
though she doesn't deserve it." Alana said from the bed where she
was lounging, waiting for Mirage to get ready so that all the
princesses could go downstairs with the queen together.

Queen Nadira relaxed and looked gratefully at her daughter who
smiled secretly. As Mirage stepped off the pedestal, Aria grabbed
the material over Mirage's hips and stretched it down. "Mirage,
you gained weight, this dress would fit you perfectly if you'd
stop snacking on those sweets."

"You stopped eating sweets 8 months ago, and you still look like
a bloated-up cat." Mirage snapped. "At least I have curves, not
rounds."

"Ladies…" Roxie called from the bed, sighing at her sister's
snippy attitude. She never understood why they didn't like each
other as much as she liked all of them. "Behave…"

"Wonderful. A nine year old is teaching you manners now, Aria."
Mirage said.

"She said it to both of us." Aria's voice shrilled.

"Girls, enough! Please!" Queen Nadira shouted over the squabbling
sisters. She always felt that her children didn't deserve to be
treated with royalty since they never acted like they were a part
of it. The fight carried on for hours and even after meeting all
the guests and laughing at the same stupid jokes, Mirage and Aria
would throw comments back and forth, burning each other up.
Finally, at the moment of the bonfire, King Sarosh took Mirage's
hand and led her away to the pit where she could see the wood
being gathered up. Her father draped his hand around her shoulder
as they stopped right in front of the pile and as she saw the
workers throw oil over the wood, her eyes narrowed. A large scrap
of wood looked familiar but she couldn't quite place. Across the
pit, Salar's eyebrows went up in surprise as he saw a broken up
guitar in the mess.

Suddenly, Mirage gasped. It was the corner of a painting. It was
all coming back to her now, and then she realized. The pile of
wood was huge, towering over 10 feet, and her eyes went to and
fro as she registered each carving, each piece of furniture and
each velvet draping to her home; her Saulta. A scream held up in
her throat as the pile went up in flames, the licks of fire
reflecting in her eyes as she forced her tears to stay in. She
couldn't believe it. She had loved Saulta, she had made Saulta
and now, it was all burning up in front of her. The smoke rose up
as she looked on in horror, and happily, King Sarosh leaned in
and whispered into his daughter's ear. "Never cross me." Those
words were the death of her and she felt her knees buckle.
This was a nightmare, this couldn't happen, she thought
desperately.

Straightening back up, King Sarosh discreetly handed Mirage
something that he had taken out of a satchel that Abid had handed
to him. She took it without looking and stared at the fire, her
mouth going dry. Numbly, she looked down in her hands and her
blood ran cold. A long rope of braided brown hair sat innocently,
tightly wound. She looked at it in confusion, noticing the
crusted-up blood on one end of it. And then it hit her hard.

She screamed as she recognized the hair as Tatiana's. The music
playing alongside stopped and everyone looked at her shocked. She
screamed again as her ladies ran for her, her mother bumped into
people as she made her way to Mirage who was holding onto what
seemed to look like a thick rope.

"TATIANA!" She screamed and looking up at King Sarosh, wanted to
kill him, "YOU MURDERER! YOU KILLED HER." Tears slid down her
face.

People had hardly ever seen Mirage so the sight of a crying
screaming Mirage was an absolute shock to her. Salar edged his
way towards her as she shook the rope in King Sarosh's face.

"HOW COULD YOU? HOW COULD YOU?" She yelled, holding the braid up
to his face. Shoving it away, King Sarosh looked entertained,
rather than horrified. "She was a bad influence. She had to be
put down." He explained slowly, as if he was speaking to a dim
child.

"WHERE IS SHE?" She cried as she felt her mother's arms close
around her and she fell against them, holding on for support,
guilty that she had resented her mother so much some time before.

"Now Mirage, stop acting like that, you knew it was going to
happen sooner or later. She took you to Saulta, away from your
home. You acted up whenever she was around. So I took care of it.
She won't bother you or anyone else anymore. Now stop being a
child and get yourself cleaned up." King Sarosh said,
good-naturedly as if handing over bloody hair belonging to family
was a regular thing to him.

Mirage couldn't take it anymore, the pain was too much. "YOU
BASTARD!" She screamed at the top of her lungs and freeing
herself from her mother's vice-like arms, she ran for it.

"Such a passionate young girl, she is." She heard her father say
as she ran inside. Tatiana was gone. Her father had killed her.
All because Mirage was too cowardly to face the people whose
lives she had destroyed. Tatiana had warned her about this but
she hadn't listened and now… Mirage cried out loud. Her heart
ached too much and she could feel her head pounding. A horrible
feeling was spreading through her body and she felt like killing
herself.

She didn't know how she got to her room, and as she climbed the
stairs, she heard her ladies call after her. She halted, turned
and screamed at them. "GO AWAY! GET AWAY FROM ME! I DON'T WANT TO
SEE ANY OF YOU EVERY AGAIN! YOU'RE ALL FREE!" She sobbed as she
tasted her tears on her lips. "I DON'T WANT TO SEE ANY OF YOU IN
THIS CASTLE EVER AGAIN… go home…" She broke down and leaving her
ladies-in-waiting in shock, she made her way up and slammed the
door open.

Nothing seemed to matter anymore. She loved Tatiana more than she
loved her own family and now she was never going to see her
again. Hear Tatiana scold her or coo around her, trying to make
Mirage see light in her darkest of moments. The lights in her
room were extinguished. There wasn't even any moonlight. Her
cries echoed back to her ears as she staggered in. Her dresses
were strewn on the divans, each more beautiful than the last.
They had all been Tatiana's designs and her favorite had been the
one Mirage was wearing right now. Suddenly she couldn't breathe
and as she made to take it off, she found that she was still
holding Tatiana's hair. She threw it away as if it had come to
life. She grabbed at her beautiful gown and tried ripping it away
from her body but it was sewn on strongly and after much might,
not the stitching but the cloth ripped in two from her shoulder
down to her stomach. Her corset, the one she had naughtily bought
from a lingerie shop in London peeked out from underneath and
Mirage cried even more. Everything around her, she had bought
with her best friend and now she had Tatiana's blood on her
hands. She pawed at the hairclips on her head and yanked them
out, not bothering to think about the pain. Her hair fell down,
all frizzy because of the pulling. She fell to her knees and
clutched her face in her hands. Her head was spinning and she
wanted to die. She dug her nails into her skin and dragged them
down. The pain was excruciating since Mirage loved keeping her
long nails sharp and she felt the skin throb underneath her
touch. She wanted to rip apart her own skin, thinking that
perhaps that way the pain in her body would find release and she
scraped at her face even more until she felt blood fill her
nails.

She couldn't go down there. She couldn't face those stupid people
who were enjoying a party downstairs, who didn't know that her
father had brutally killed her best friend and was now expecting
her to accept it. She couldn't. And all of a sudden, everything
fell into place. She wasn't going to stay here any longer.

She winced slightly as she pulled her fingers away from her face,
her facial wounds starting to hurt. She stood up, and as if
automatically, she went to her bed and leaning down, took out her
favored clothes that men usually wore. She didn't remember how
she took off her dress and put her old clothes back on, and
rubbing her eyes with the back of her hands, she saw the streaks
of kohl smear over her skin. She wasn't going to be like that
anymore. She was going to kill her father. She loathed him.

Mirage straightened up and heard her back pop. She was going to
go look for Sepehr and the others, and take a boat to Sahilibur,
the new capital. There, she'd accept her position as Queen since
her father had already sent out the letters that she was going to
become queen the day she got married. Her mind snapped back to
Salar. She needed him, and she knew how to get him on her side.
Turning, she stooped down to pick up the braid and looked at it.
It was Tatiana's hair indeed; she was the only girl in the
kingdom, in Mirage's opinion, to have such beautiful wavy hair.
She laid the braid on her bed amongst the tattered remains of her
dress and looked up. Sepehr stood in the doorway, his expression
ghostly. He looked at the braid and then back at her. She had
seen his blurred face as she had run off before.

Mirage felt her tears slide down her face. She nodded. Sepehr
squeezed his eyes shut and gripped the door jamb as if he
couldn't support himself.

"Sepehr", she started.

"It's not your fault…" He said, his voice breaking, "Your father
killed him."

Mirage nodded again. Her face looked mutinous. "I'll kill him."

Sepehr took deep breaths and opened his eyes. "Good." He said
hoarsely.

"We're running." She blurted and waited for him to say something.
He stared at her with dead eyes and after a few minutes, when he
had thought everything through, spoke, "where to?"

"Sahilibur", she replied.

He eventually spoke after willing himself to think, "The
Mirage is ready for a voyage. We can escape on that. The
men are already there. They don't know anything about this."

Mirage looked down and said weakly, "We'll need to do one thing
before we go." And taking his hand, she pulled him towards the
window and showed him the passage underneath so that they could
escape undetected.

"I'm going to need a husband." She said with finality, and
jumped.

~0~

"What a debacle…" king Darius said, walking leisurely off to the
quarters. "Who'd have thought the statue could cry." He laughed,
not bothering to look at Salar who was walking beside him, his
mind numbly working and his eyes still wide with disbelief.

"King Sarosh is more of a mad-man than I thought!" King Darius
chuckled at the recent memory of Mirage's screams, the same
memory running through his son's mind made his blood boil at King
Sarosh. He was a blood-thirsty psychopath, one who didn't
even forgive his own daughter, his heir… Salar thought.

As he heard his father chuckle, he gritted his teeth and not
wanting to beat up his own father, excused himself and telling
Behroz that he wanted to walk alone for a while, went off to the
grounds. He finally reached the entrance to the room below
Mirage's a few minutes later and pondered over the thought of
going up to meet her. He had to do something, she was going to
bits. He couldn't let her be like this. As he thought this
through, he glanced up at the dark spot of Mirage's window.
Was she even there? He thought.

Out of the blue, the door in front of him opened like a magical
cave, and there she was, emerging out into the grounds with
relief etched across her face along with blood. He registered her
appearance as Sepehr stepped out behind her and halted, almost
colliding into her but Mirage didn't notice. She kept looking at
Salar as if he was an angel and reaching out; she held her hand
towards him.

"I'm running." She said; her voice grave.

Salar looked at Sepehr who strode off towards the general
direction of the river, looking like death.

Mirage whispered, "And you're mine. You promised."

Salar thought of it. He didn't know his father's reaction. What
he'd say or do. But at this moment, looking at Mirage's bloody
tear-streaked face, her kohl spread around her alien eyes, he
felt the need to take her in his arms and never let go. So much
did that desire overcome him that he looked up at the castle once
more, and shook his head, mentally saying goodbye to his father.

"I'm yours." He stated, taking Mirage's hand.

~0~

The Mirage sailed off. The sound of the water lapping
against the boat felt soothing. She had escaped. The boat was
under her command, headed towards Sahilibur. In a week, she'd be
there with a month's ration on board. As she saw the faint light
flare up in her tower, Mirage turned her back to it. Aryan, Azin,
Navid, Sam, Rostam, Shaya and Emad were all here. Sepehr was in
the captain's room, Salar was seated beside her, observing her
silently. She turned to him and attempted to smile.

Salar shook his head. "There's no need for such pleasantries.Take
your time" He said simply.

Mirage dropped her smile, gratful that he understood her feelings
and looking out at her crew, wondered. Would she ever be able to
smile again or was her happiness also taken away with best
friend's life.